/<(,'- 


tftofO 


No.  48. 


HOW  LONG 


HAVE  YOU  BEEN  SICK  ? 


THE  SOLDIER'S  LEGACY. 


CHARLESTON,  S.  C. : 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  SOUTH  CAROLINA  TRACT  SOCIETY 

Evoni  b  Cogtvell,  Printers.  3  Bi*sd  street. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2011  with  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/howlonghaveyoubeOOsout 


HOW  LONG  HAVE  YOU  BEEN  SICK? 

THE  SOLDIER'S  LEGACY. 


Are  you  sick,  my  friend  ?  How  long  have  you  been 
so?  For  a  month  or  a  year?  That  is  a  long  time. 
But  I  can  tell  you  of  a  man  that  was  sick  a  longer  time 
than  that!  Have  you  been  sick  for  ten  years?  Oh, 
what  a  time  to  have  been  ill !  But  I  can  tell  you  of 
one  who  was  longer  sick  than  that!  Have  you  been 
sick  for  twenty  years?  Oh,  it  makes  the  heart  sad  to 
think  of  anyone  being  ill  for  twenty  years!  And  yet 
I  can  tell  you  of  one  who  had  been  ill  a  longer  time 
than  even  that!  The  man,  of  whom  I  speak,  had  been 
sick  for  "thirty  and  eight  years."  John  v,  5.  Poor 
man  !  How  long  he  had  been  ill  !  We  are  not  told 
how  old  he  was.  But  if  he  was  sixty  years  of  age,  he 
had  been  ill  ever  since  he  was  twenty-two  years  old. 
Reader,  think  of  that.  Are  you  as  badly  off?  Have 
you  been  sick  as  long  as  that  poor  man  ?  But  whether 
you  have  been  sick  a  long  time  or  a  short  time,  it  is 
God  who  sends  your  sickness,  and  he  knows  how  long 
it  ought  to  last.  If  you  please,  you  may  say,  "O  God, 
I  should  like  to  be  well  !"  but  then  you  must  add, 
"  Not  my  will,  but  thine  be  done  IV  And  you  must  also 
desire  to  have  your  sins  forgiven  still  more  than  to  have 
your  body  cured.  What  a  mercy  !  The  doctors  cannot 
always  cure  the  body,  but  Christ  can  always  heal  the 
soul. 

The  sick  man,  of  whom  we  read,  "  had  an  infirmity." 
He  had   lost  the  use  of  his  limbs  !   he  could  not  walk. 


4  HOW  LONG  HAVE  YOU  BEEN  SICK  I 

Only    think  !      Not    to    have    walked    for    thirty-eight 
years  !     To  have   lain   upon  his  bed  for  all   that  time  ! 
Why,  any  man   that  was  thirty-eight  years  old  might 
have  said,  "Ever  since  I  was  born,  that  man  has  never 
walked  !"     Oh,  reader,  how  little  we  think  of  our  mer- 
cies !     Every  morning  that  we  get  up,  ought  we  not  to 
say,  "  Thank  God,  I  am  able   to  walk  t"     How  many 
are  laid  upon  a  sick  bed  all  day  long!     How  many  are 
never  able  to  walk  abroad   and   breathe  the  fresh  air! 
How    glad  they   would    be    if  they  could   only   walk  ! 
Reader,  if  you  are   loo  sick  to  walk,  or  have   met  with 
an  accident  that  confines  you  to  bed,  think  of  the  poor 
man  that  had  an  infirmity  for  "  thirty  and  eight  years.'" 
Sick   people   have   great   need    of   patience.     Oh,  it   is 
very  trying  to  the  sick  !     Oh,  how  we   long  to  be  well ! 
It  makes  us  very  weary,  and  often  very  sad.     Oh,  yes, 
we  do  need  patience.     And  who  is  to  give  us  patience? 
Who  but   God!     Look  to  Jesus.     Look   to   His  Cross. 
Look   to   His  precious   blood.     Say,   "Lord  Jesus,  for- 
give my  sins,  and  give  me  patience  to  bear  my  trials!" 
Did  you  ever  hear  of  the  Pool  of  Bethesda  ?     John 
v,  1.     It  was  at  Jerusalem,  in  the  sheep  market.     At  a 
certain  season,  an   angel  came  down  from  heaven  and 
troubled   the  water,  and   then  the   first  sick  person  that 
stepped  into  the  water  was  made  whole  of  whatsoever 
disease    he   had.     This  was   God's  doing.     It  was  not 
the    water    that    cured    the    sick    persons — it   was   the 
mighty  power  of  God.     And   so  there  is  a  pool — a  pre- 
cious fountain,  in  which  sinners  may  wash  away  their 
sins.     Reader,  do  you  know  what  that  fountain  is?     It 
is  the  blood  of  Christ.     Only  one  sick  person  could  be 
healed  at  a  time  in  the  Pool  of  Bethesda.     Perhaps  the 
angel  did  not  return   again   for  a  whole  year,  and  then 
no  one  else  could  be  healed.     Not  so  with  the  fountain 
of  Christ's  blood.     As  many  as  like  may  come  at  once. 


HOW  LONG  HAVE  YOU  BEEN  SICK?  5 

Oh,  reader,  if  you  could  come  and  bring  all  your  fami- 
ly—if you  could  bring-  the  whole  village— the  whole 
town— if  you  could  bring  all  the  state  with  you— nay, 
if  you  could  bring  the  whole  world— there  would  not 
be  one  too  many.  Jesus  would  not  say  to  one  of  them, 
"  I  cannot  save  your  soul." 

Now,   the    sick  man    was   lying  by   the  Pool  of  Be- 
thesda.      There  were  many  others  there,  all  waiting  for 
the  angel  to  come   down  and  trouble   the  water.      Each 
of  them   thought,   «  Perhaps  I  may  be   the  first  to  step 
into  the  water,  and  then  I  shall  be  made  whole."     Jesus 
saw  the   poor  man    lying  there.     Jesus  knew  how  long 
he    had    b.^en    sick,    for   Jesus    knows  all    things.      He 
knows  how  long  you  have   been  sick.      He  knows  what 
is    the    matter    with   you.      He    knows    what  remedies 
you   have   used— what  doctors  have  attended  you.      He 
knows    every    pain   and   ache   that  you   have  had.      He 
sees  you  lying  upon  your  sick  bed,  as  He  saw  the  poor 
man    lying   at   the  Pool   of  Bethesda.      Yes,  Jesus  sees 
you.      Do  you    look   to    Him?      Do  you   feel    His  pres- 
ence ?     Do  you  love  Him  ?     Do  you  believe  in  Him? 
But    what    said  Jesus    to    the  sick  man?     He  said, 
Wilt   thou   be   made  whole?"     "What   a  question!" 
you  say:   "to  be  sure   he  wished   to  be  made  whole." 
If  Jesus  asked  you  that  question,  you  would  say,   "Oh, 
yes,  Lord,  I  wish  to  be  well  as  soon  as  I  possibly  can. 
I   wish    never   to    be  sick  again."      Hush  !   my   friend. 
God  knows  that  you  are  sick.      He  knows  that  you  de- 
sire to  be  well.      You  cannot  be  sick  a  day  longer  than 
He  appoints.      If    it   is   really  good    for  you,  God   will 
take   your  sickness  away   in   the  right  manner,  and   at 
the  right  time.      If  He  were  to  say  to  you,   "  Wilt  thou 
be  made  whole?"  should  you   not  say,  «  Lord,  do  with 
Thy  servant  as  seemeth  Thee  good.      Not  my  will,  but 
Thine  be  done  \" 
48* 


u 


6  HOW    LONG    HAVE    YOU    BEEN    SICK? 

The  poor  man  answered,  "Lord,  I  have  no  man, 
when  the  water  is  troubled,  to  put  me  into  the  pool, 
but  while  I  am  coming,  another  steppeth  down  before 
me."  How  sad  !  Perhaps  he  had  been  to  the  pool  for 
eight  and  thirty  years.  How  often  he  had  Wen  car- 
ried there !  How  often  he  had  been  carried  back! 
How  often  he  had  been  disappointed  !  Hope  deferred 
maketh  the  heart  sick.  How  sick  his  heart  must  have 
been  !  Perhaps  he  was  beginning  to  despair.  Per- 
haps he  had  said  that  very  morning,  "  If  I  am  not 
cured  this  time,  I  will  not  2:0  again." 

What  did  Jesus  do?  Did  He  put  the  man  into  the 
pool?  Oh,  no!  Jesus  did  not  need  to  do  that.  He 
could  cure  him  without  the  water  of  the  pool.  Jesus 
said,  "Rise,  take  up  thy  bed  and  walk.  And  immedi- 
ately the  man  was  made  whole,  and  took  up  his  bed 
and  walked."  Ver.  8,  9.  What  wonders  Jesus  can 
do  !  What  a  poor,  helpless  object  the  man  had  been — 
always  lying  upon  his  bed — not  able  to  stir  for  "thirty 
and  eight  years."  But  look  at  him  now — he  is  able  to 
walk  and  run  !  Look  at  him  now!  They  used  to  carry 
him  on  his  bed — now  he  is  carrying  his  bed  on  his 
back  !  Who  would  ever  have  thought  to  see  him  walk 
again  ! 

Reader,  again  1  ask,  il  How  long  have  you  been  sick?" 
Five  days,  or  months,  or  years?  Ten  years?  Twenty 
years?  Alas!  your  soul  has  been  sick  longer  than  thai, 
unless  Jesus  has  made  it  whole.  As  long  as  you  have 
lived  your  soul  has  been  sick.  It  was  born  sick.  It  has 
remained  sick.  It  will  be  sick  while  you  live,  and  sick 
when  you  die — yea,  sick  for  ever  and  ever,  unless  Jesus 
Christ  make  it  whole. 

"  Thirty  and  eight  years"  was  a  long  time  to  be  sick. 
But  what  is  that  compared  with  eternity?  To  be 
"thirty  and  eight  years  "  in  pain  !      But  is  it  not  worse 


HOW    LONG    HAVE    YOU    BEEN    SICK  f  7 

to  be  in  everlasting  misery?  To  be  "thirty  and  eight 
years"  with  a  hot  skin  and  a  feverish  head!  But, 
oh!  what  is  that,  compared  with  everlasting  burn- 
ings "where  the  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not 
quenched?"  Mark  ix,  44.  Oh,  reader,  may  that 
never  be  your  portion  !  May  your  sickness  make  you 
see  your  need  of  a  Saviour!  May  it  bring  you  to  the 
feet  of  Jesus!  Then,  in  due  time,  shall  you  see  that 
good  land,  "where  the  inhabitant  shall  not  say  I  am 
sick;  the  people  that  dwell  therein  shall  be  forgiven 
their  iniquity. ''  Where  "there  shall  be  no  more  death, 
neither  sorrow  nor  crying,  neither  shall  there  be  any 
more  pain."  Such  shall  be  the  portion  of  all  them  that 
believe  in  Jesus.     Isa.  xxxiii,  24.     Rev.  xxi,  4. 

The  sick  man  was  made  whole  at  once.  Immediately 
he  received  strength.  How  was  this?  Because  he 
believed.  He  knew  that  Jesus  could  do  it.  Therefore, 
he  was  made  whole.  Had  he  not  believed  what  Jesus 
said,  he  would  have  been  a  cripple  still.  So  is  it  with 
sick  souls.  The  soul  that  believes  in  Jesus  is  saved  at 
once,  forgiven  at  once.  Poor  sinner,  only  believe  this 
simple  truth,  fix  your  eyes  in  true  faith  on  the  cross  of 
Christ,  and  your  sins  are  all  forgiven. 

There  were  many  sick  folks  at  the  Pool  of  Bethesda. 
Why  was  the  impotent  man  the  only  one  whom  Jesus 
healed  ?  Because  he  was  the  only  one  that  believed. 
Thousands  saw  Jesus  when  he  was  upon  earth  ;  but 
few  believed  on  him,  and  only  few  were  saved.  Thou- 
sands hear  of  Jesus  now — but  few  believe  on  him,  and 
only  few  are  saved.  How  many  go  to  church  and  hear 
Christ  preached,  and  yet  how  few  believe!  How  many 
read  the  Bible,  and  yet  how  few  believe!  How  many 
say  their  prayers,  and  yet  how  few  believe!  Reader,  do 
you  believe  on  Jesus  ?     Is  your  soul  saved  ? 

And  why  did   the  impotent  man   believe  ?      Because 


8  HOW    LONG    HAVE    YOU    BEEN    SICK  ? 

God gavp  him  grace  to  do  so.  And,  reader,  if  you  are  to 
believe,  you  too  must  have  the  grace  of  God — "  for  by 
grace  are  we  saved  through  faith,  and  that  not  of  our- 
selves, it  is  the  gift  of  God."  Eph.  ii,  8.  Then  pray 
for  the  grace  of  God.  Be  not  happy  till  you  have  grace. 
Look  to  Jesus  that  you  may  have  grace.  Pray  for  the 
spirit  that  you  may  have  grace.  Oh,  reader,  by  all 
means  have  grace.' 

But  what  if  this  sickness,  and  these  pains  and  wounds, 
should  be  unto  death  ?  With  this  grace  death  is  gain, 
and  dying  is  but  going  home.  You  have  fought  your 
last  battle.  You  have  met  your  last  enemy.  You 
have  finished  your  course;  and  with  your  last  breath 
you  can  say,  "Oh,  death,  where  is  thy  sting!  Oh, 
grave,  where  is  thy  victory!  Thanks  be  to  God  who 
giveth  me  the  victory,  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

In  the  evening  of  the  5th  of  November,  after  the 
fight  of  Inkermann,  there  were  many  killed  and 
wounded  within  the  enclosure  formed  by  the  tents  of 
the  British  troops.  The  number  of  the  Russians  was 
very  great.  The  English  had  been  able  to  withdraw 
their  men,  and  they  helped  the  French  in  attending  to 
their  soldiers  who  had  fallen  in  the  battle.  Here  and 
there  men  carrying  stretchers  went  over  the  field  of 
battle,  seeking  out  the  survivors  and  carrying  them 
away.  Just  as  one  of  these  stretchers,  borne  and  es- 
corted by  soldiers,  preceded  by  a  woman  with  a  lantern, 
came  toward  a  pile  of  bodies  fearfully  mutilated,  a 
voice  feebly  exclaimed,  "My  friends,  come  to  me."  It 
was  a  young  infantry  soldier,  who  had  been  terribly 
wounded,  and  was  near  breathing  his  last.  "You  would 
not  be  able  to  carry  me  hence.  I  feel  my  last  moment 
draws  near;  but  I  am  glad  to  see  friendly  faces  before 
I  am  quite  insensible.  There  is  one  great  kindness  I 
want  you  to  do  for  me;   I.  trust  that  God  will  preserve 


HOW    LONG    HAVE    YOU    BEEN    SICK?  9 

one  of  you  to  accomplish  it."  Then  catching  sight  of 
the  woman  he  said,  "Oh,  my  friend,  God  will  preserve 
you  to  fulfil  this  commission.  You  will  go  to  my 
mother,  you  will  console  her,  for  women  know  best  the 
words  wherewith  to  bind  up  the  wounded  heart.  You 
will  tell  her  that  her  son  died  as  a  soldier,  but  above  all, 
say  he  died  as  a  Christian  ;  you  will  take  her  this  New 
Testament  given  him  by  a  stranger  at  the  port  from 
which  they  embarked,  which  has  changed  a  bad  fellow, 
a  swearer  and  a  profligate  into  a  new  man;  it  has  shown 
him  the  abyss  in  which  he  was  plunged;  it  has  shown 
him  the  way  of  salvation  by  the  grace  of  God,  through 
faith  in  the  Saviour,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  it  has  been 
a  strong  support  in  days  of  trouble,  and  in  his  last 
moments  it  has  given  him  confidence  to  appear  as  a 
pardoned  sinner  before  God.  You  will  find  my  mother 
in  the  market-place  at  Paris.  She  will  have  already 
received  the  fatal  news,  and  will  be  in  the  greatest 
grief;  but  you  will  give  her  this  message  of  peace;  you 
will  read  it  with  her;  you  will  give  my  loving  farewell 
to  all  my  family;  and  Isidore  Briche  thanks  you  for  it, 
and  entreats  you  to  join  with  him  in  his  last  prayer." 

The  hardest  or  most  sceptical  heart  cannot  refuse  the 
last  request  of  a  dying  man.  And  these  soldiers,  who 
had  no  doubt  faced  the  dangers  of  that  day  without 
flinching,  fell  on  their  knees  near  Isidore;  the  woman 
had  put  her  arm  under  the  soldier's  drooping  head,  and 
he  appeared  to  rally  a  little.  "  O  God,"  said  he,  "  thou 
who  art  supremely  good  and  powerful ;  thou  who  hast 
taught  me  to  pray,  vouchsafe  to  comfort  my  mother; 
enable  her  to  forget  the  errors  of  my  youth;  make  her 
know  thee  as  I  know  thee;  grant  that  my  brothers  and 
sisters  may  walk  in  thy  ways;  preserve  these  kind  peo- 
ple whom  thou  didst  send  to  me,  when  I  besought  it  of 
thee  in   faith  ;  preserve  them  from   the  misery  of  living 


10  HOW    LONG    HAVE    YOU     BEEN    SICK  ? 

at  a  distance  from  thee;  guide  this  woman  in  the  work 
I  have  committed  to  her.  And  now,  my  God,  I  thank 
thee  for  having  opened  to  me  the  gates  of  life;  may  thy 
blessing  rest  on  those  Christians  who  give  thy  holy 
word  to  the  soldiers,  and  on  those  also  who  bring  it  to 
our  very  camps,  where  I  have  had  the  happiness  of 
meeting  them.  I  render  thee  thanks  for  thine  infinite 
goodness." 

He  was  silent,  and  the  pale  light  of  the  moon  shone 
on  his  face,  which,  although  changed,  was  quite  radiant 
with  heavenly  hope.  He  was  mentally  praying;  his 
strength  was  diminishing.  The  soldiers  were  sad  and 
silent,  the  woman  in  tears.  The  dying  man  seeing  this 
gently  addressed  her,  fl  You  will  remember  my  name; 
and  if  not,  it  is  written  on  the  first  page." 

"Oh,  I  know  your  mother;  she  it  was  who  received 
my  child  when  I  was  obliged  to  part  from  him,  before 
we  left." 

♦'It  is  God  who  has  ordered  all  this  my  friend;  I  was 
not  aware  of  this  act  of  my  mother's;  it  does  not  sur- 
prise me,  for  my  mother  is  so  kind." 

He  was  again  silent;  his  features  betokened  extreme 
pain.  The  sergeant,  Robert,  drew  near  and  said  :  "  I 
will  write  to-morrow  to  Mrs.  Briche ;  she  knows  my 
hand  writing,  so  that  she  will  not  be  startled;  thus,  she 
will  gradually  learn  the  sad  news,  and  on  our  return,  if 
God  brings  us  back  to  our  child,  we  can  finish  the  work 
of  consolation  you  have  confided  to  us." 

"Thank  you,  sergeant;  Avhen  all  is  over — you  will 
take  the  book  ;  for  I  will  keep  it  to  the  end — which  can- 
not be  far  off.  Stay  near  me  with  your  wife — your  com- 
panions can  go  —  their  kind  services  are  of  no  use  to 
me  —  perhaps  further  on  they  may  be  able  to  help 
others." 

On  a  signal  from  their  leader,  the  soldiers  withdrew, 


HOW    LONG    HAVE    YOU     BEEN    SICK?  11 

and  Robert  knelt  down  close  to  his  wife,  that  he  might 
help  her  to  support  their  young  friend.  Blood  soon 
after  came  from,  the  mouth  of  the  dying  man.  He 
became  more  and  more  faint.  In  the  last  moment  of 
consciousness  he  feebly  murmured:  "Pardon  —  my 
mother — grace — mercy — God." 

His  head  then  sank,  and  he  was  gone.  The  young 
woman  bent  over  him  and  took  from  his  hands  the 
Testament  which  he  still  held  tenaciously  in  his  stiffen- 
ing fingers,  that  it  might  accomplish  the  object  of  the 
dying  soldier,  in  carrying  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation 
and  consolation  to  his  bereaved  mother. 

Similar  cases  have  occurred  among  our  own  soldiers. 

Poor  P had  suffered   for  several  days,  and  when 

he  was  told  that  he  must  die,  he  assured  those  around 
him  that  death  had  no  terrors  for  him.  He  bid  them 
say  to  his  family,  that  "all  was  well  with  him."  He 
called  for  his  Bible,  and  as  his  own  eyes  were  too  dim 
to  read,  he  asked  one  of  the  attendants  to  read  for  him 
those  favorite  passages  in  the  psalms  and  gospels,  from 
which  he  had  drawn  comfort  in  days  past.  Words  of 
rapture  and  admiration  burst  from  his  dying  lips  as  he 
caught  new  meaning  and  saw  new  power  in  the  word  of 
life.  The  sick  of  the  hospital  left  their  pallets  and 
drew  near  the  dying  man,  that  they  might  hear  his  last 
words,  while  tears  streamed  down  cheeks  that  had  not 
been  wet  with  them  for  years.  A  simple  head-stone, 
neatly  cut,  and  evergreens  planted  near  his  grave,  are 
the  touching  tokens  of  a  fellow-soldier's  love. 

Brave  and  beloved  soldier,  may  the  Grace  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  you  in  sickness,  in  suffering, 
and  in  dying-     Amen. 


12  HOW    LONG    HAVE    YOU    BEEN    SICK? 


CASTING  OUR  CARE  ON  THE  LORD. 

1  When  struggling  on  the  bed  of  pain, 
And  earth  and  all  its  joys  are  vain, 
How  sweet,  my  God,  to  know  thy  power 
Sustains  me  in  this  trying  hour! 

2  How  rich  and  precious  sounds  that  love, 
That  tells  of  rest  and  joys  above, 

And  lulls  my  troubled  heart  to  rest 
Upon  my  blessed   Saviour's  breast. 

3  There,  still,  while  life's  warm  currents  rush, 
My  soul  would  all  her  sorrows  hush, 

Nor  ever  yield  to  dark  despair, 

For  light,  and  life,  and  peace  are  there. 

4  Helper  and  Hope  thou  ever  art, 

To  heal  the  wounded,  broken  heart; 
O  !  let  me  hear  thy  pardoning  voice, 
And  bid  my  broken  bones  rejoice. 

5  Then  shall  my  cheerful,  grateful  tongue 
In  rapturous  strains  thy  praise  prolong; 
My  ransomed  soul  adore  thy  grace, 
And  swifter  run  the  heavenly  race. 


Hollinger  Corp. 
PH  8.5 


